Christina Hendricks on the end of 'Mad Men' and her female fans

The final episode of “Mad Men” is airing on May 17 and Christina Hendricks, who plays tart tongued Joan Holloway Harris, is unsure how she’ll feel watching the finale.

“I don’t know,” she told Los Angeles Confidential. “I don't think I’ve said goodbye. As I watch the last episode, maybe that will happen. It’s a very weird sensation. I just always have taken it for granted. Like, I still get to go back in six months and play her again. But not this time.”

The 40-year-old actress admits that she was a little intimidated by Joan when she first began playing her but creator Matt Weiner helped her understand the character and her motivations.

“I thought, Who is this person? Gosh, she’s bossy, she’s a know-it-all, she’s critical,” she recounted. “And then after several conversations, Matt said: ‘She truly thinks she knows best, and if she can give that wisdom to someone else, then she’s being helpful.’ And I thought, Okay- I can work with that. And then I just started to love the snarky stuff that she would say. Even in the beginning, I loved the weird lines: Joan saying to Peggy, ‘Your sandwich makes me sad. Let’s go out to lunch.’ That’s such a mean thing to say to someone - but it was so fun to do!”

And Hendricks is thrilled that Joan has such a loyal following particularly among female viewers.

“I love [that I have a female following] because I’m a girl’s girl…I’m a guy’s girl, too-I’ve got a lot of guy friends, but my girlfriends are really important to me. And there must be something about that being important in my life that I project that into my characters without even knowing it. I really respect women, and so to receive it back is awesome,” she says happily.